Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

"Have you ever ordered the morning to begin, or shown the dawn where its place was?. . . . Can you bring out the stars on time?. . . . Can you shout an order to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Can you send lightning bolts on their way?. . . . Job, are you the one who gives the horse its strength or puts a flowing mane on its neck?"¹

A store manager overheard a clerk saying to a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for some weeks now, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon."

Alarmed by what was being said, the manager rushed over to the customer who was walking out the door and said, "That isn't true, ma'am. Of course, we'll have some soon. In fact, we placed an order for it a couple of weeks ago."

Then the manager drew the clerk aside and growled, "Never, never, never, never say we don't have something. If we don't have it, say we ordered it and it's on its way. Now, what was it she wanted?"

The clerk smiled and said, "Rain."²

Job, in the midst of all his sufferings, understandably questioned God and, like most of the rest of us, had to learn the hard way that there are many things we can't order, change, fix, or do. Job began to get on top of his painful circumstances only as he accepted his situation and chose to trust God. "Though He [God] slay me," Job said, "yet will I trust Him."³

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to know what I can do, but also be aware of my human limitations while all the while appreciating more and more your unfathomable greatness, goodness, mercy and love. And please help me to remember that honesty is still and always will be the best policy. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Job 38:12, 32, 34-35; 39:19 (NIV).
2. Alan Smith, White House, Tennessee. http://www.tftd-online.com/.
3. Job 13:15 (NKJV).

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